You have to stay human. With all your courage, tears, messiness, brilliance, we need to navigate these times as human beings not automatons. What is the point, otherwise? With extinction on one hand and AI replacement on the other, and capitalism’s inhumane treatment of our soft round bodies and rainbow-splendid souls, and the plastic insufficiency of the faux personas of the social media era … being fully human is an act of rebellion, revolution, resistance and evolution.
Here’s what I mean:
It’s holiday sales season and the launch of my latest book, River Dragon. Ordinarily, I’d be working some press and publicity magic, cheering and celebrating this great novel, rallying the fans to post reviews, setting up my holiday discounts in time for the uber-commercialized weekend coming up. In other words, I’d be doing what the culture expects, but with my usual heartfelt, good-spirited commitment to peace, justice, and the well-being of all.
Here’s what’s really going on in my world.
A family crisis. Prayers by the standing stones on our ritual hill. Candles lit on the altar. Post-election support for organizers in panic and grief. Emergency re-strategizing for movements and organizations I work with. A to-do list so long, it fell off the page. A poignant ache that I can’t give Ari Ara what she needs in these first weeks of the book launch. A tender trust that she’ll find her way into the hearts of the readers – young and old – who long to wander into her world.
I’ve decided to just stay human amidst it all, imperfect and still full of love.
We have to stay human. Ferociously. Truthfully. Messily. Brilliantly. We can’t out-machine the machines. We can’t out-corporate the corporations. We can’t out-influence the algorithmically-aligned influencers. Not if we hope to change our world. Not if we long to save our world. Not if we love our humanness.
Looking around, many people despair of humanity. They see the cruelty, the destructiveness, the lies and injustice. But that isn’t human. It’s inhumane.
The great task of our lifetimes is to call people back to who we really are.
A human being is a beautiful thing, a tangle of dreams, visions, imagination, emotions, love, heartache, hope, creativity, inventiveness, ingenuity, humor, mischievous rebellion, stubborn determination, plucky courage, ridiculous folly, startling clarity, surprising wisdom, and unbounded surprises.
People love my books because it’s all there on the page. Every iota of this humanness. Writing them helps me stay human. Reading them helps us stay human. Sharing them invites others to stay human, too. It’s an act of resistance to inhumanity, a rebellion against extinction, a revolution of the heart, and an evolutionary leap in the crossroads of these times.
Stay human. Our world needs us.
Rivera Sun
Here’s how to give Ari Ara a boost with her launch:
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Liz Massey
says:Rainbow-splendid souls. Yup. That’s who we need. Real people, taking small steps.